"I know I’m just getting started": Lady Gaga's inspirational 2025 iHeartRadio Innovator Award acceptance speech explored

Lady Gaga accepted the Innovator Award at the 2025 iHeartRadio Music Awards and delivered a speech that tackled ageism in the music industry and addressed the 'power of authenticity.'

Speaking onstage at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, the 38-year-old artist reflected on her career, inspirations, and the LGBTQ+ community. Lady Gaga was dressed in a red ensemble. Watch the full Innovator Award acceptance speech below:

Per People Magazine, she opened her speech, by stating,

"I don't know totally how to think about this because winning an award honoring my entire career at 38 years old is a hard thing to get my head around. On the one hand, I feel like I've been doing this forever and on the other hand, I know I'm just getting started. So even though the world might consider a woman in her late thirties old for a pop star, which is insane, I promise that I'm just getting warmed up."

Lady Gaga on innovation

Lady Gaga has been often seen going beyond usual approaches. From arriving at the 2011 Grammy Awards inside an egg to turning Born This Way into a beloved anthem, she has made her mark. In her speech, she mentioned,

"Innovation is not about breaking rules, it is about writing your own and convincing the world they were theirs all along. Like showing up to the Grammys in an egg or creating an anthem that everyone told us was too controversial until it became undeniable. If I have learned anything in three decades I've been at this, it is that the most powerful innovation is your authenticity."

The singer credited her ability to the women in her family, calling her Italian-American grandmothers 'the greatest innovators':

"Tonight I think of my grandmothers, fiercely brilliant Italian-American women who reinvented their destinies with nothing but strength, dreams and determination."

She added,

"They didn't invent technology or art, they invented possibility, shaping the future with nothing more than their minds. And those women, my ancestors, are the greatest women that I've ever known."

Lady Gaga also paid tribute to artists who inspired her, including David Bowie, Madonna, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Cher, Carole King, Grace Jones, and her late collaborator Tony Bennett. Per People, talking about Tony, she stated,

"Dear friend Tony Bennett who taught me to embrace the classics but never be bound by them."

She also added,

"And to the LGBTQ+ community, you taught me bravery before the world was ready to listen. You have changed the world for the better, and your courage fuels mine every day."

Lady Gaga made it clear that she has no plans to slow down. She recently released her seventh studio album, Mayhem, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.